Market Basket bounces back

Thursday

Aug 28, 2014 at 6:19 PMAug 28, 2014 at 6:46 PM

By Chris Warren chwarren@wickedlocal.com

The mood today at Burlington’s Market Basket was both joyous and thankful. Early this afternoon, half the parking lot was filled, more than 100 people were shopping and eight of 21 registers were open, with more shoppers streaming in every few minutes.

It was far different from the empty parking lot and store that was the norm for the past six weeks as employees boycotted until their boss, CEO Artie T., was re-instated, and customers follewed suit and boycotted the grocery chain too.

The news that Arthur T. Demoulas (Artie T.) had purchased the other half the company from a rival branch of the Demoulas family for $1.5 billion was featured on the 11 p.m. broadcasts last night, giving Arthur T. and his side of the family full control of the company. Whether the family feud that began in the 1990s will continue or whether it will end is unclear, but what is clear is the animosity will no longer spill over into the Market Basket boardroom and company operations.

Denise Queen, a resident of Woburn, has been working at the Burlington store as a cashier for three years. She said, “I never watched so much TV in my life, never used the clicker as much as I did last night when the news broke. Still, I didn’t quite believe it, until I heard that man’s voice and he [Artie T.] said it was true.” She also thanked the customers for standing by the employees during the boycott, “It was our customers who stood by us and pulled us through. Without them, we [the employees] would have fallen flat on our faces.”

John Garon, who is the front-end manager of the Burlington Market Basket (whose father was one of the nine executives fired last month that have been re-instated as of last night) said he went to sleep last night at his usual time (before the 11 p.m. news) and suddenly woke up at 2:30 a.m. “Somehow, I knew it was over and felt very positive. And sure enough, when I looked at my phone, it was lit up like a Christmas tree, so many people left messages to make sure I knew.”

Garon said he was so excited that he couldn’t go back to sleep and arrived at the store at 5:30 a.m. “I thought I’d be the first one in, but my store manager was already here; he arrived at 4:30 a.m.”

What can returning and new customers expect over the next few days, since many of the shelves were completely empty during the standoff, and restocking is going to take some time. Garon said, “We got a shipment of dairy and fish today. All of our dry goods are stocked. We expect to get shipments of meat and produce on Saturday and expect to be fully operational by Sunday.”

One customer, Becky White of Arlington, stopped by to talk to Garon and said, “I came in just to do cartwheels down the aisles…but then I decided to do a little shopping too.” Customers greeted Garon and other employees by saying, “Welcome back,” “Congratulations,” or “We missed you.” Garon’s responded with, “Thank you. We missed you too.”

In response to the employees regard for Artie T., Garon said, “He’s a great leader and a great man. He talks with all of us when he comes in the store and lets every employee know that every one of us is important.”

Jim Gallo, a customer and resident of Burlington said, “We’re so glad he’s [Artie T.] back and we’ve also sent a message across the country. This was possible because we all stood together in solidarity. Remarking on the overwhelming loyalty employees showed toward Artie T., Gallo said, “Maybe he should run for governor.”

As customers make their way back to Market Basket, the will be greeted by a sign taped to the door at the entrance. It reads:

Thank You To Our Valued Customers

Your loyalty, support and sacrifice over the summer of 2014 will never be forgotten by our Associates.

The Market Basket you know is back and more committed than ever before to serve you.